About

Barry Dale: The Original Atoman is a labor of love. A comic book lost to time and the public domain.

This publication is intended to re-introduce Golden Age Characters who have expired into the public domain.

The art has been cleaned up and new effects added to showcase the story of the original. This is all reprinted public domain artwork and story with only the cover being new material.

This projection is a combination of issues 1 and 2 of the Atoman series featuring all of Atoman's comic appearances.

Idea of the project is to give these characters a new lease of life and use the revenue that ongoing digital publication to donate to the Hero Initiative.

Atoman was created by Ken Crossen and Jerry Robinson back in 1946 for Spark Publication. The series ran for two whole issues then was largely forgot with the creators moving to different properties and heroes.

Spark Publications was founded in the 1940s during the Golden Age of Comics. They published such titles as Golden Lad, The Green Lama and Atoman.

Spark Publication would collapse as one of the smaller comic publishers during the heyday of the 1940s, unable to compete on the newsstand with the onslaught of titles published at the time.

With the company now defunct, Atoman was never renewed as a copyright after his initial publication, thus falling to the public domain.

The Public Domain. Sounds like a great Super-Villain team. A place where heroes go, not out of glory of battle, but simple paperwork. Characters retired in disgrace and well before their time.

Characters created by Comic Book Legends. Powerhouses of yesteryear lost in time and legal nonsense.

This should not be the case.

The idea behind Barry Dale: The Original Atoman was to give Atoman a new lease of life. With all of today’s major characters control by media titans and comics as mere afterthought to movies, apparel and toys; something is off. The comic book industry is just geared to anything but comics. And that shouldn’t be.

Barry Dale: The Original Atoman deserved better. They all do. So we present to a new generation the Original Atoman. A nod to the past and another shot of glory to a hero gone too soon.

Tread Comics looks at righting wrongs in the industry. Atoman is given a new lease on life as people rediscover this great character. We also didn’t forget all the people that paved the way for the comic book industry. That’s why 20 percent of all proceeds of Barry Dale: The Original Atoman will be going to The Hero Initiative. The Hero Initiative is an organization that creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medial aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Find out more at heroinitiative.org.

We hope you enjoyed Barry Dale: the Original Atoman and hope you pause for a moment to remember what came before and built this wonderful industry. You can not move forward if you do not remember where you came from.

Risks and challenges

Project is nearly complete with just formatting to be done. Once released Kindle by Amazon it will have a lifetime of 20% net revenue being donated to the Hero Initiative who help comic creators in need. Just a new way to give back.